How Far Can A Raft Take Us?
by KaiserinAstraia
Summary: When they first arrived to Destiny Islands, in the dream, Sora turned a cheeky grin to Riku and asked, "How far can a raft take us?" OR: Tumblr ask prompt of "distracting kisses".


**A/N:** This was prompted by an anon on tumblr for the kiss asks! This one is distracting kiss: when you are competing, maybe playing video games or something so you press kisses anywhere available; arms, nose, knees, ears, knuckles, temple, just anywhere to distract them.

Y'all know me by now, I can't control myself enough to keep this under 1k.

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 _~ How Far Can A Raft Take Us ~_

When they first arrived to Destiny Islands, in the dream, Sora turned a cheeky grin to Riku and asked, "How far can a raft take us?"

The ocean stretching out ahead of them infinitely was eerily calm, but the only way off the islands, dream or test or real. Riku smirked back at Sora, high on the feeling of being home, however artificial. All he cared about was the fact that Sora stood by his side.

"Dunno," Riku said honestly, but echoing an age old answer, "if it doesn't work out, we'll figure something out."

Sora chuckled behind his hand, a warm thing that combated the chill in the sea air, and grabbed Riku's hand with his other. Their fingers intertwined like it was as simple as breathing - and it was. It made it all too easy to forget they were dreaming, on a mission, being tested. And then, Sora tugged them back toward the trees, the treehouse, the waterfall, and the secret place.

"Let's grab supplies," Sora said, so very enthusiastic - unlike that time so long ago now.

"Yeah," Riku agreed, letting Sora drag him along, "we need planks, rope, and-"

"Palms!" Sora finished. Another grin tossed over his shoulder. Riku nodded dumbly.

It would have been more efficient to split up to find supplies, but neither suggested it; they gathered the wood and other supplies together until they set up shop near the docks.

"Think we have enough?" Riku asked, mostly rhetorically, to the air around him. Sora's thigh pressed against his, sitting so close he was practically leaning against him. He was tying fronds of the palms together for a makeshift sail, lips pursed together in concentration. It made Riku ache a little, wondering just why it couldn't have been this way the first time.

Riku shook his head. They were different then.

"Mm, I think so," Sora replied slowly, until he finished a knot, then put it down. His smile turned sly in the span of a blink. "Hey Riku, I bet I could finish the sail before you finish tying the wood together."

"Oh, you sound confident," Riku taunted back as if by instinct. "You're only betting because your job is easier."

"Is not!" Sora whirled, mere centimeters from being nose to nose. Riku half expected Sora's gaze to be blazing, competitive - but no, there was nothing but playfulness staring back at him. He smiled back. Sora continued, "I have to tie, like, a million knots." He raised the recently retrieved dry fronds as evidence.

Riku raised an eyebrow in disbelief, but relented anyway. "Okay, what do I get when I win?" He glanced over Sora's shoulder to a familiar tree with star shaped fruits hanging from it, but pushed the thought away as soon as it came.

"Hmm… whatever you want," Sora considered, eyes flashing with intent, "But if I win I get whatever I want."

Well, that was insufferably _vague._ Riku scoffed, "Whatever I want? You sure?"

Sora rolled his eyes, pushing Riku with his shoulder. "C'mon, you game?"

Riku didn't have a single clue what he'd even ask from Sora to do if he did win - aside from the fateful fruit that just felt too heavy, too needy to ask. Still, he couldn't resist a competition from his lifelong best friend. "Yeah," he said, leaning far over to pull a long plank to him. When he sat back up, Sora was looking at him strangely. "I'm game."

"Okay, on the count of three," Sora rushed. He sure was determined about this. Riku eyed his competitor suspiciously; he didn't even have a frond in-hand. "Three… two, onego!"

The urgency sprung Riku into action, wrapping the rope around one end of the plank he had. Old habits died hard, after all. His hands seemed to remember the task, not only from the first real raft they made, but from the many popsicle-stick rafts they made as children. Yet, one log bound to rope later, he glanced at Sora, and all but halted. "Hey if you're not gonna try, I'm not either, you know," sounding way more cross than he intended.

But Sora laughed, "I'm just being careful, gosh."

"Mmhmm, yeah, you, careful, of course," Riku teased, grinning. "Just tell me what you're plotting already."

"I'm not plotting anything," Sora said, light, lacking all the passion that he possessed in every cell of his body.

"Hmm," Riku grunted back, side-eying the way Sora's fingers seemed to work purposely lazily on each knot. Fine, Riku would still win anyway. Let Sora plot.

Three more planks down, on one side, and Riku had given up on watching his back. Sora was humming to himself next to him, being as slow as ever, so Riku thought he must have either given up already or forgotten. Well, whatever, Riku didn't have any request for Sora he'd dare say out loud. His movements slowed, letting Sora's foreign humming lulling him into complacency. It sounded strangely… pirate-y, Riku thought, near drowsy.

That was when he felt something warm and soft on his upper arm - almost his shoulder.

He looked over, but Sora was exactly how he was before. Weird. He inspected his arm, even looked up for rain. The sky was overcast but not a single drop of moisture was falling down.

Okay, whatever then. He resumed his work. But not two minutes later, he felt it again, though higher; definitely on his shoulder now. "What–" He looked over, and Sora was giggling. Even worse, _somehow,_ he'd made impressive progress on the sail. _How?_

"What did you do?" Riku asked, more bewildered than anything else. Whatever it was made him shiver. _Weird._

"Nothing," Sora said, in the most dishonest tone Sora could possess.

Riku was on alert, now.

He put on his most stoic, unassuming face, and made slow but steady progress on the raft, waiting for Sora to do whatever he'd done before, again. He'd be ready next time. He didn't even dare look over to see Sora's part; then he'd know Riku was watching, waiting.

And sure enough, minutes later, he felt Sora shift; it was only the softest brush of his cotton sleeves against his arm, but on high alert, it felt like the tectonic plates shifting beneath him. He waited almost eerily still, for whatever Sora was going to do –

Which turned out to be the worst decision. Riku _swore_ that Sora used Aeroga to close in so fast, but in the span of a single millisecond Sora was the closest he could be without actually touching him, so much so he could feel his _breath on his neck_ and then–

Sora just. Kissed him.

Riku violently twitched, feeling the shiver travel down his entire spine. "Ha– Sora, what's the–?"

"Aw, you got me," Sora cried in surprise, eyes sparkling like the _stars_ , not a hint of disappointment in his voice, "I was up to five, too."

 _Five?_

"You did not," Riku denied, rubbing his neck as if that could quell tingly sensation infected there. He didn't know when, but he'd turned toward Sora with his other hand was resting on Sora's hip, holding Sora away, or in place, Riku wasn't sure. "There's no way."

And Sora actually _smirked_ , which _wow, okay,_ and replied, "Yes way. I got you here–," he kissed his shoulder, close to his neck, "And here–," the top of his shoulder, "And _here_ –," his upper arm, and Riku was getting goosebumps, "And–"

"Okay," Riku replied, pulling his arm away to hide the bumps forming. His face felt hot. "I get it."

Sora pouted, but didn't lean away, his weight on his hands that rested on Riku's knees. His expectant face was intoxicating, and in it Riku got an idea how to get revenge. Without a word, he dipped in and kissed Sora's neck back.

"Ah, hey!" Riku did it again. "Hey!" Sora's shoulder tried to twitch up, but unsuccessfully with Riku's face in the way. He kissed again where his shoulder met his neck, exactly mimicking Sora, and chuckled as Sora dissolved into giggles.

"Stop, that tickles," Sora begged. Riku kissed the shoulder for good measure. "Ri–"

Finally, Riku pulled away. Sora held Riku's wrists between them, going limp now that he wasn't squirming. Breathless, Sora giggled between huffs of air, but that sparkle of mischief and that damn _smirk_ was still on his lips.

"What is it?" Riku asked, now morbidly curious what Sora was so satisfied about.

He tossed a glance over his shoulder. "I beat you."

He had. It took a fraction of a second to see it. As appalled as he was, Riku found himself smiling. Sora had done all of it - the humming, the surreptitious kisses, as a _distraction._ "You little–" Before he could think twice he dived back in, kissing every inch of skin he could see; his neck, his jaw, going up to his cheek, until finally, Sora turned his face just a _little_ in the right direction and–

Their lips met like waves crashing against the sand. It wasn't _meant_ to be so _much_ but it just was, them pulling each other closer despite the impracticality of it. Sora was always so warm, his lips so soft and sweet like he was the Light itself – a craving Riku would never be rid of. When Riku pushed him closer, hand on his middle back, Sora made a small breathy hum that vibrated against their lips, and god Riku wished this would never end.

Sora smelled like an adventurer, a little bit of sweat and other-Worldly scents mixing into something unique. Riku decided it was predominantly flora and fauna, with something else that was uniquely Sora, though he couldn't pinpoint what part it was. He quickly stopped caring with Sora's fingers playing with the small hairs at the back of Riku's neck. They briefly broke apart only to kiss again, Sora pushing back just as fiercely.

Still, Sora was the first to pull away, eyes fluttering open blissfully and that - that probably made Riku just as warm as the kiss itself. He cupped Sora's cheek with his palm, padding the sun-kissed skin with his thumb gently.

Sora spoke, low and quiet like he'd just woken up, "I won, so I want you to forget the mission for one more hour."

Riku blinked. "What?"

Sora turned a hint of pink, which only bewildered Riku more. "Like… forget the raft for a bit. Let's go to the tree house and the secret place and… I dunno."

What, like that was hard? "Sure," Riku said instantly, eyebrows knitting in a little concern, "You could have just asked, you know?"

Sora sighed like Riku was missing something. "Yeah, it's…" he grinned again, the playfulness returning, "you'll see." He pulled away from Riku just enough to stand before outstretching a hand.

Riku took it, and let Sora drag him somewhere else again. True to his word, it looked like he was headed for the tree house, the home of many long-forgotten sleepovers.

Riku glanced over his shoulder to the half-bound set of wooden planks, and the tied palm leaves. _"How far can a raft take us?"_ Riku thought, his lips lifting peacefully.

Not very far, apparently.

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 **A/N:** Thanks for reading! If you liked this, leave a comment or favorite? And! There's at least one more of these to come!

My dm's are always open for screaming about KH! My writing tumblr is astraia-writes, and my twitter is KaiserinAstraia!


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